Geographical Society. 293 



four hundred names. From this great and increasing number, 

 and still more from the general character of the subscribers, it is 

 fair to conclude that a favourable opinion has been formed of the 

 utility likely to result fron* the labours of such a Society. The 

 degree of utility, however, which will be really effected, the Com- 

 mittee deem it almost unnecessary to observe, must depend on the 

 attention and assiduity which the President, the Vice Presidents, 

 and the Council may bestow on its concerns, quite as much as on 

 the stock of knowledge they may bring to the consideration of the 

 several subjects that will come before them. And not on the 

 Council alone will depend the extent to which the useful labours 

 of the Society are expected to be carried, but in a very great degree 

 also on the assistance which they may receive from the many indi- 

 viduals eminent in the arts, sciences, and literature, and from the 

 distinguished officers of the army and navy, whose names appear on 

 the List of Members. 



The many opportunities that are afforded to officers of the army, 

 while on service abroad, and the promptitude and ability with 

 which they avail themselves of them, (as the office of the Quarter- 

 Master-General and the Board of Ordnance so amply testify,) are 

 the best pledges of what may reasonably be expected from that 

 quarter ; and the more so since the Committee has had the satisfac- 

 tion to witness the readiness with which so many distinguished of- 

 ficers of the Royal Artillery and Engineers have come forward to 

 join the Society. 



With the same confidence the Committee look for aid from the 

 officers of the sister service, who on their own peculiar element 

 in particular, will, it is hoped, be assisted by other experienced 

 navigators, whether of and belonging to the Corporation of Trinity, 

 the East India Company, or to any other maritime service. On 

 the exactitude of the minutest details of hydrography must always 

 depend the safety of commerce and navigation. Numerous dangers 

 unquestionably exist in various parts of the ocean, that have not 

 yet been ascertained ; while others that have no existence still figure 

 on our charts, to the dread of navigators. It has been well ob- 

 served, that " the man who points out, in the midst of the wide 

 ocean, a single rock unknown before, is a benefactor of the human 

 race;" and scarcely less so is he, who, after careful examination, is 

 able to decide that a rock or shoal, which appears on a chart, is 

 either misplaced, or has no existence. — These, it is true, may not 

 be ranked among brilliant discoveries; but the smallest obstruction, 

 whether rock or shoal, that exists in the ocean, may have been, and, 

 so long as its exact position remains unascertained, is still likely to 

 be 3 the cause of destruction to life and property. It may also be 

 noticed that many practical observations are still desirable on the 

 prevailing winds and currents, and more particularly on tides, of 

 which there are various peculiarities among the islands and along 

 the different coasts of the ocean, concerning which facts and ob- 

 servations are still wanting, for establishing one general theory that 

 shall be found applicable to every part of the globe. 



Every 



